Reconstructing evolutionary process in hominin evolution

对人类物种进化的调查是正在进行的令人兴奋的研究的前沿。这一领域的科学项目包括发掘珍贵和重要的古人类化石遗址，了解我们的祖先如何利用环境并受到环境的影响，以及不同物种之间的关系。虽然这些相互关联的研究领域在理解人类进化史方面发挥着重要作用，但对人类形态的“如何”和“为什么”缺乏关注，特别是导致我们物种生物状态的进化过程。尽管进化生物学的方法进步和来自多种生物的证据表明，并非所有形态特征都是适应性的，但这种更复杂的进化情景尚未在传统古人类学中得到充分承认和应用。在这一主题下，施罗德古人类实验室将开展一项广泛的研究计划，以测试非适应性过程（基因流动和由此产生的杂交，以及随机遗传漂变）在多大程度上促进了我们的进化。将更传统的方法（线性测量和多元统计）与研究古人类化石的新创新方法（3D模型和几何形态计量学）相结合，在现存灵长类动物和其他哺乳动物的背景下，该计划有以下六个更大的主题：1)过程：利用进化定量遗传学的方法重建形成古人类谱系形态差异的进化过程。2)变异：量化现代人类和其他灵长类动物骨骼的形态变异，以更广泛地研究多样性模式（形态整合）的进化。3)杂交：利用哺乳动物模型，确定杂交对骨骼的形态学影响，目的是在没有遗传数据的情况下，在人类化石记录中识别杂交。4)进化模拟：开发将用于统计3D形状比较的几何形态测量方法与用于进化形态学的定量遗传学分析方法相结合的工具。5)田野工作：探索和挖掘南非人类摇篮的古人类遗址。这一主题认识到古人类化石发现的价值，认为它是检验关于人类进化过程的假设的最佳途径。6)教育：将学生的培训置于所描述的每个主题的中心。这里提出的研究活动将继续我的长期目标，即通过认识到古人类群体之间模糊的界限，拥抱进化过程的复杂性，以及关注多样性对理解我们人类集体进化历史的重要性，弥合传统古人类与进化生物学之间的差距。

Investigations into the evolution of our species is a frontier of ongoing and exciting research. Scientific projects in this field include the excavation of precious and important hominin fossil sites, understanding how our ancestors utilized and were influenced by their environment, and the relationships between different species. While, these interrelated research areas play a significant role in understanding human evolutionary history, there has been a lack of focus on the "how" and "why" of human morphology, specifically the evolutionary processes that have led to the biological state of our species. Although methodological advances in evolutionary biology and evidence from multiple organisms has suggested that not all morphological traits are adaptive, this more complex evolutionary scenario has yet to be fully acknowledged and applied in traditional palaeoanthropology. Under this theme, the Schroeder Palaeoanthropology Lab will carry out a broad research program to test the extent to which non-adaptive processes (gene flow and resulting hybridization, and random genetic drift) have contributed to our evolution. Merging more traditional approaches (linear measurements and multivariate statistics) with new innovative methods of studying hominin fossils (3D models and geometric morphometrics), in the context of living primates and other mammals, this program has the following objectives described under six larger themes: 1) PROCESS: Reconstructing the evolutionary processes that have shaped morphological divergence across the hominin lineage utilizing approaches from evolutionary quantitative genetics. 2) VARIATION: Quantifying the morphological variability across the skeleton in modern humans and other primates to investigate the evolution of patterns of diversity (morphological integration) more broadly. 3) HYBRIDIZATION: Determining the morphological effect of hybridization on the skeleton, using mammalian models, with the goal of identifying hybrids in the human fossil record in cases where genetic data is not available. 4) EVOLUTIONARY SIMULATION: Developing tools that combine geometric morphometric methods for statistical 3D shape comparison with the analytical approach of quantitative genetics utilized in evolutionary morphology. 5) FIELDWORK: Exploring and excavating hominin sites in the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa. This theme recognises the value of the discovery of fossil hominins as the best way to test hypotheses about evolutionary process in human evolution. 6) EDUCATION: Placing the training of students at the centre of each theme described. The research activities proposed here will continue my long-term goal of bridging the gap between traditional palaeoanthropology and evolutionary biology by recognizing the blurred lines between hominin groups, embracing complexity of evolutionary processes, and focusing on the importance of diversity for understanding our collective human evolutionary history.